In a digital world, the past lives on! Retro game collecting is a hidden world and you’re invited!
Remember when you were a kid? What were the things that were important to you? For some of us, it was video games. If you enjoy the escape to the electronic world, the thrill of the hunt like going to yard sales and flea markets; Reality TV shows like ‘American Pickers’- then we’ve got a FILM FOR YOU!
Among the ever expanding growth of the digital age, where the tangible is becoming less and less everyday, there lives a small niche group of people out there that strive to keep the tactile memories of a bygone era alive.
These are the retro video game collectors! This rather unique mishmash of people relive the past, today, through pieces of plastic and metal. These are their stories and adventures.
So, grab your Power Glove, a juice box and let’s travel through the decades of discarded video games as we delve into flea markets, yard sales and personal collections and meet up with video game junkies. From everyday folks, to Internet personalities to hardcore game collectors, we will trek across the country and show the broad spectrum of this rather unique hobby.
My name is Darrin Peloquin and this will be my first feature film and I am excited to tell you the untold story of the video game collector. Video games have been an integral part of my life since I first picked up an NES controller at my cousin’s house way back in 1987. Little to my amazement, did I realize that over 25 years later, I would still be playing video games. Collecting merely became the obvious outcome of being a gamer. On top of that conclusion, I found out, through my enthusiasm as a collector, I was not the only one out there pursuing the games of my past. There was a completely unknown subculture of people doing what I was doing. There are many like me preserving the past. Reliving memories and making new ones.
The games of our youth: how we played them, how we acquired games and with whom we play games says a boundless amount about us as a society. We live in a digital age where information is constantly available, whether we like it or not. Behind the curtain of instant gratification, we’ve lost our connection with the outside world. Society has become various media platforms and technology has dulled us to what it was like to interact in-person and to physically engage. We have become many- all with a voice but no one is really listening.
We have forgotten the newsstand, and how that was our means for news and upcoming information; we have abandoned the plethora of knowledge known as the library for a Wiki and we no longer rush to the video stores on Friday nights. We have become an institution that doesn’t socialize in shared experiences first hand anymore.
New gamers do not understand what it was like to be immersed in the time when video games were emerging as an everyday facet of life. They will never know the camaraderie of sharing in what video games were. Sure, the internet brings us all together but never has it separated us more. Just because you may play a video game online with someone, that distance is just merely the fragmented remains of a bygone era. The couch has become another fixture of the home rather than a meeting place.
For me, it’s relieving to be part of a very focused nexus which carries on the past through collecting the games and systems that we grew up with. Along with other enthusiasts, collectors and fans, I’d like to tell you the story of what it was like to trade games, play with others and talk to one another face to face. I want to show you the micro-generation that have become retro game collectors.
This film will offer a glimpse into the paradigm of collecting, the mindset of collectors and show that their ambition and passion still lives on in their hearts. Whether it be for nostalgia or curiosity reasons or other, it’s still out there and going strong today among the horrors of this strange world in which we live. Game collecting today has harnessed what was and what is and the adventures in the film will demonstrate that.
We are (about) 75% done with the film in terms of shooting and editing. We have met and interviewed a large majority of the people we feel best speak and represent the culture of video game collecting and our core message. From the everyday, casual collector to the Internet personality- we’ve met a lot but there are still more wonderful people out there we need for the film. These are the “Game Junkies”.
We expect the film to be released within the first quarter of 2017. Please read the Risks and Challenges section for more information.
It’s difficult to look at oneself and slap on a label. The collectors and people in the film are just that. They are addicted to game collecting and the journey of trying to collect for their favorite system, whether it be the Sega Genesis or Master System; the Atari 2600 or the unsurpassed Nintendo Entertainment System: the NES. Of course, there are leveling degrees of this fascinating hobby: to collect, play and trade video games. It’s their personal recollections and perspectives that The Bits of Yesterday will capture.
Our base goal is $10,000 and this will allow us to bring you a documentary film that’s over 90 minutes long and very polished, from beginning to end.
Every contribution counts when it comes to producing something of quality. For an independent film like this one, a substantial amount of cost will be put toward travel expenses. This will grant us the ability to interview collectors from around the country that we feel best represent the core message of the film. We have interviewed many key figures in the video game collecting culture but we feel the story isn’t complete without a select few.
On the plus side, this film is largely complete! A great deal of the project has already been filmed. We’ve made it this far along, so there no turning back now!
Other factors and expenses that play into our campaign include perks and fees as well as legal (should anything occur beyond our own capabilities). Furthermore, no film would be complete without a soundtrack. The Bits of Yesterday will also have an amazing music score, so acquiring the right artist/composer has to be accounted for as well designer(s) for promotional t-shirts, posters and cover art, etc.
Speaking of perks, we’ve got some pretty good ones lined up to reward you for your support! We will have your usual swag like stickers, posters and T-shirts but we will also have some exclusive rewards including, but not limited to, an Executive Producer film credit all the way up to actually being in the film! Sure, why not! Show us your collection. Bring us to your favorite hunting spots where you find those forgotten, obsolete treasures. Possibly the ultimate experience: being a star!
Remember this: If we get funded beyond our set goal, things can only get better. We could have the option of an International BluRay instead of DVD or even a limited run on VHS! Wouldn’t that be something? We could even take the film on the road and showcase it around the country. The possibilities become almost infinite the more we are funded!
Risks & Challenges There are many risks and challenges that this project could run into. The unknowns of people, and places; the weather and the dangers of traveling could put this production in jeopardy. Also, there is participation or lack thereof concerning interviewees, business owners, the general public as well as legal matters that may arise from us and the finished product.
For us, I believe that the bar has not been placed so high as we cannot achieve what we have set out to do. I am positive that we will be successful in our documentary.
I have chosen this project because it is near and dear to me. My intentions are to share with you a class of people whom have admiration for games, and who are reliving the past through collecting what some consider useless pieces of junk.
I am eager and ready to battle any and all obstacles concerning the development of this film